Pittsburgh rebounded with four straight wins, three in the playoffs, to secure the franchise's record sixth Super Bowl title and make Tomlin, then 36, the youngest coach to win the sport's showcase event.

Adding to tonight's intrigue: During the waning moments of last season's rout, Titans running back LenDale White stomped on a Steelers Terrible Towel, much to the amusement of the Tennessee home crowd.

Of such slights, real or imagined, locker-room stemwinders are made.

"They disrespected you! They disrespected this organization! And those chumps have never won a Super Bowl! Now go tear their spleens out and spoon-feed them to our fans!"

Tomlin, a graduate of Denbigh High and William and Mary, insists he won't go there.

"Our players won't be worked up over that," he said during a news conference this week. "We've spent a great deal of time talking about (how) the '08 season is in our past. It's no different than the '74-'75 Steelers (champions), for that matter. We mean that. We take that approach to where we are.

"Although some of the guys are the same, last year's history. Some of the things that maybe happened with opponents fall into the same category. I told some guys the other day that maybe Billy 'White Shoes' Johnson did something when he played for the Oilers back in the day that could (anger) some people. But that's irrelevant."

More than "some of the guys" are the same for Pittsburgh. Eighteen of the 22 Super Bowl starters return, remarkable in this era of revolving-door free agency.

Three of the Steelers' four new projected starters — right guard Trai Essex, inside linebacker Lawrence Timmons and cornerback William Gay — were reserves last season. Only fullback Frank Summers, a fifth-round draft choice in April out of Nevada-Las Vegas, is a newcomer.

(Timmons might miss tonight's game with an ankle injury and would be replaced by Keyaron Fox, another '08 backup.)

"That's the Pittsburgh way," Fisher said. "You keep things intact and you quietly go about your business. You stay competitive. Every year you do the right things, and (if they) stay healthy, the Steelers have a chance to win a championship.

"I think it is certainly a compliment to the superstars at the top. The Rooney family has done a terrific job over the years."

The Rooney ownership group has employed only three head coaches in the last 40 years, nine fewer than the Washington Redskins for the sake of comparison. Chuck Noll choreographed four Super Bowl victories, Bill Cowher one and Tomlin one — and counting.